Oh hey guys. What’s up? What? What’s that? Why yes, I did run a brilliant guest post by Susan Johnston in mid-April and then drop off the face of the planet. You’re absolutely right. God, I’m like the poster child for worst blogging practices ever. (By the way, did any of you buy her e-book yet?)

Those of you who follow me on Twitter already know that my grandfather died last Friday. It hit me pretty hard and, instead of working through it, I spent the past week watching TV, eating Cheez-Its, and taking Xanax. (I also sang my grandfather’s funeral mass and learned that yes, it is possible to belt out hymnals while you’re leaking tears and snot.)

Yesterday was my first day back at work. And yeah, it was a bit overwhelming. I ended the day feeling cranky, stressed out, and emotionally drained. Thinking about all the work I still had on my plate made me want to curl up in bed and pass out for the next year or so.

But then I forced myself to remember my humble freelancer beginnings, a time when I had so few projects on my plate that I spent entire days watching America’s Next Top Model marathons. And I forced myself to consider the fact that my grandfather would be super-pissed if I devolved into reclusive couch potato-dom on account of his death.

And so, here’s a look at things to come now that I’ve ruled out hibernation:

1. Over at YourTango, I’ve been tasked with launching and managing a new mommyblog. So for the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to secure bloggers, settle upon a blog name, get a logo designed, get contracts done up, draw up a production schedule, etc. I’m way excited about this project, and it’s provided me with some great insight into the relationship between editors and freelancers, all of which I plan to share with you here. The official launch date is Mother’s Day, and I’ll be shamelessly self-promoting all over the damn place.

2. Last week, I drew up a preliminary marketing plan for my coaching practice. It was sort of fun (am I a total nerd?), though also much harder and more involved than I expected. So I’ll be blogging about marketing plans and market research in the coming weeks. Excited much?

3. Speaking of my coaching practice, I’ve already announced my intention to publish an e-book by June. I’d better get cracking.

4. Speaking of e-books, I’ve spent the past few months working with someone way more impressive than me to create content for another e-book, on which I will be listed as a co-author. I’m hoping to wrap up this project within the next few weeks, and I can’t wait until I can finally reveal the finished product to you. I don’t know how many of you will be interested, as the content is sex-related, but the project was a pretty big deal to me, so of course I want to show it to everyone on the face of the planet.

5. Speaking of sex, I was telling my family about the mommyblog the other day, and my brother was all, “Is this the first non-sex-related thing you’ve done?” and I retorted, “Where do you think babies come from?” and my dad said, “Not from vibrators!” … This has nothing to do with anything. I just thought it was hilarious.

6. I’m also starting a new copy editing gig this coming Monday. For the next year, I’ll be copy editing listings for Patch.com, AOL’s local news site. This should make it possible for me to buy a house and procreate and stuff without going bankrupt.

Can you see why I’m feeling a little bit overwhelmed?

How many times have you felt the urge to hibernate rather than face your workload?

I feel as if this week was a perfect example of how much I was missing when I was playing recluse for the past year. (The positively balmy weather didn’t hurt.)

On Tuesday, I went to the #nyblogout — a happy hour for NYC dating bloggers — and met a few people I had previously only known online. On Friday afternoon, I went to an open dress rehearsal for Armida at the Metropolitan Opera, and then went to a Ben Folds concert in the evening. And today, I went to the local university to rehearse a choral piece an old high school friend had composed for his grad school recital. It felt good to get away from the computer screen.

But I was still accomplishing things as well. I launched my new web platform (with the help of my web developer husband). I had a final appointment with my very first career coaching practicum client. I came that much closer to finishing up an ongoing copywriting project. And I might be heading up an exciting new project at the web magazine where I work part-time.

But somehow, with everything that was going on, I still managed to read some pretty terrific articles around the web:

• The Freelance Writing Jobs Network’s Seven Reasons Writers Don’t Get the Better Paying Writing Jobs
• Heather Huhman’s Unpaid Internships: The Fair Labor Standards Act Doesn’t Go Far Enough
• Freelance Folder’s 7 Ways To Identify and Market the Uniqueness of Your Freelance Business
• BusinessWeek’s The Job Satisfaction Paradox for the Self-Employed
• Mashable’s Top 5 Ways To Make Your Site More Fun
• Copyblogger’s Six Questions To Ask for Powerful Testimonials
• Living In Place’s Work Isn’t Supposed To Be Fun
• Lauren Novo’s Why Blog for Free?
• The Freelance Writing Jobs Network’s Will Funny Get You the Freelance Writing Job?
• Freelance Folder’s How To Ask for a Referral Without Sounding Like a Jerk
• Daily Finance’s Atlantic Publisher Takes Stand on Intern Pay. Who Will Follow?
• GlassDoor’s How To Not Burn a Bridge When You Quit a Job
• Diesel Sweeties’ comic about writers
• Marian Schembari’s I Still Hate Internships, But Sometimes Free Is Smart
• The Coachella Review’s The Payoff Will Be in Good Karma
• Ms. Career Girl’s How 8 Months of Unemployment Turned Out To Be a Blessing in Disguise
• WordCount’s Q&A with Marla Beck, Life Coach for Writers
• Design Informer’s What I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Freelancing
• Business Insider’s AOL’s Content Strategy Is Still a Mess
• Gawker’s Conde Nast and the End of Magazine Jobs
• Inkygirl’s Twitter Chats for Writers
• Ms. Career Girl’s 10 Guerrilla Job Search Tactics That Work
• Fortune’s 7 Tips for Shy Job Hunters
• Writing Roads’ Back-Up Plans, Face Plants and Rice
• Marian Schembari’s What People REALLY Notice About Your Blog
• The Urban Muse’s 10 Things You Should NOT Ask a Freelance Writer
• Edelman Digital’s Practical Guidance on Blogger Disclosure and FTC Guidelines

It’s been a long, ridiculously busy week and, I must admit, I’m feeling a bit burnt out. Which is why, last night, I forced myself to step away from my laptop and indulge in an evening of Netflix+hot cocoa. Still, work goes on, and I completed a copywriting project for a new client, had my very first career coaching appointment, and got back into the bloggy swing of things. I’d still like to write up a guest post, organize the content for my new online portfolio, and make some headway on my e-book but, you know…we’ll see how that goes. In the meantime:

• The Writing Coach Blog’s How to Create a Forward-Looking Freelance Writing Resume
• Mashable’s The Small Business Guide to Google Apps
• Chris G’s Why I Sucked at SXSW So You Don’t Have To
• The New York Times’ The Beat Goes Online, Minus the Glitz
• Guardian’s Book Merchandise Gets Weird
• Time’s From Job Hopping to Career Monogamy
• The Writing Coach Blog’s How Freelance Writers Can Make Conferences Pay
• Lisa Romeo Writes’ Writer Making Nice. Not Always.
• BlogWorld’s SXSW: The Cool and the Lame
• Jonathan Fields’ 7 Sneaky Ways To Write Irresistible Headlines
• The Freelance Writing Jobs Network’s Your Turn: Where Do YOU Find Freelance Writing Jobs?
• The Daily Beast’s Almost Famous 2.0
• The Urban Muse’s Open Thread: What Are Your Must-Read Blogs?
• Stratejoy’s The 21st-Century Threesome: Me, You, and My Blog
• Writing Roads’ Blogging Pheromones
• Technology Live’s South by Southwest: Spring Break for Geeks
• Freelance Switch’s 7 Tips for Marketing Your Freelance Business Offline
• Penelope Trunk’s How To Find the Most Fulfilling Careers

This past weekend, I did something truly revolutionary: I didn’t do a damn bit of work. Instead, I spent a day cleaning the condo. I threw a party. I caught up with people I hadn’t seen in eons, due to my all-encompassing absorption with my work. I took down the Christmas decorations. I even enjoyed a leisurely lunch out with my husband. Tonight? My husband and I are meeting up with a group of friends to see Avatar at the IMAX theater. Work? What work? I’ve been completely unproductive. But it’s nice to feel a part of the world again.

Before I head out to the theater, here’s your weekly link love:

• The Huffington Posts’s  My Declaration of Disconnection
• Men With Pens’ Full-Time or Freelance Writer? The Pros and Cons
• Sports Illustrated’s Tablet Demo [video]
• PRNicoleV’s We’re Too Young To Worry About Our Personal Brand
• Sam Davidson’s There Are Only Two Good Reasons To Quit Your Job
• The Freelance Writing Jobs Network’s More Thoughts on Writing for Free, Guest Blogging, and Marketing Opportunities
• Valleywag’s How AOL Will Justify Sending Jobs to India
• WordCount’s Back to Basics: The Nut Graph
• Freelance Folder’s 10 New Year’s Resolutions Every Freelancer Should Have
• Mashable’s How To: Erase Your Online Past
• Valleywag’s AOL Lusts for the Brad Pitt of the Blogosphere (and His Company)
• Mashable’s 8 Things To Avoid When Building a Community
• MarketWatch’s Money for Nothing
• Brazen Careerist’s 5 Ways To Gain Experience Without an Internship
• The Urban Muse’s 10 Ways To Land New Projects in the New Year

Hey there. Remember me? I’m Steph, your friendly neighborhood blogger, who just happened to drop off the face of the blogosphere due to her new, part-time freelance gig as Assistant Editor for YourTango, in addition to other copywriting, newspaper, and magazine deadlines. And career coaching teleclasses. Not to mention Christmas.

As you can imagine, I’ve saved up quite a few links for your reading pleasure in the past few weeks. Please read them instead of dwelling upon how I’ve let you down:

• SmashingBuzz’s 50+ Most Creative and Unusual 404 Error Pages
• Fuel Your Writing’s Simple Holiday Marketing Ideas for Freelance Writers
• Chicago Tribune’s Survey: 58 Percent of Teens Would Consider Access to Social Network Sites When Accepting Job Offer
• Gawker’s AOL News Borg To Be Ruled By Former New York Times Reporter
• WordCount’s 25 Reasons Editors Don’t Get Back To Writers Faster
• Real Words’ 20 Great Things About Dating a Writer
• Blogging for a Living’s 10 Ever So Helpful Lessons in Blog Comment Etiquette
• Freelance Folder’s 50+ Free Resources for Writers, Bloggers, and Other Freelancers
• The Renegade Writer Blog’s On Lazy Writers
• GalleyCat’s Mediabistro.com Book Club
• Writing for a Living’s What’s Wrong with Writing About Writing Because I Like Writing About Writing
• Happily Ever After’s Help a Needy Writer
• Writing for a Living’s Dear Freelance Writer: While You Were Partying, I Stole Your Client…
• The Urban Muse’s Maximizing Your Freelance Writing Income
• Mediabistro’s So What Do You Do Bill Wilson, President of AOL Media?
• Addicted to Social Media’s 5 Social Media Rules Worth Breaking
• Alexandra Levit’s Water Cooler Wisdom’s 5 Workplace Predictions for 2010
• FreelanceSwitch’s Doubling Your Rate: A Thought Experiment
• WordCount’s AOL’s News Initiative: Freelance Friend or Foe?
• NWJobs’ Day of Thanks Has Special Meaning for Job Seekers
• Brazen Careerist’s Gen Y Gives Thanks: Fellow Entrepreneurs Unite

What a week! It started out on a somber note, with an overnight trip down to MD for a cousin’s funeral, but quickly turned around, with a job offer, my very first career coaching teleclass, and some exciting new projects. Excitement!

While I go do my happy dance (again), I’ll leave you to read this week’s link love:

• The Change Blog’s 7 Keys to Successful Public Speaking
• TravelersNotebook’s How to Develop a Personal Brand as a Writer
• Copyblogger’s How to Persuade People to Accept an “Unfair” Offer
• MediaMemo’s AOL: We Need to Fire 2,500 “Volunteers”
• Jezebel’s Do We Need Websites for Women?
• Penelope Trunk’s What Makes a Blog Successful?
• Not Jessica McGann’s How Much Should New Writers Get Paid?
• Los Angeles Times’ Apres Gourmet: Food Magazines Find Their Niches
• All Freelance Writing’s 10 Costly Money Mistakes Freelancers Should Avoid
• Copyblogger’s How to Make Money with Free
• The Freelance Writing Jobs Network’s The Importance of Networking — with the “Competition”
• All Freelance Writing’s Getting Started in Copywriting with Angela Booth
• TimesOnline’s The Top 100 Best Books of the Decade